Episode 2 of Tigg’s Torrid Takes coming right at ya, today we’ve got a mere 500 words about Magnus the Kingpin, who I think will be the hottest new shot this side of Atlas. If you’ll recall my previous new lancer analysis on Nev, I think I pretty much hit the nail on the head! Sure, she got a small buff (and Meowch didn’t work precisely as I expected) but I was basically right about her strengths and overall play. The take on Magnus is significantly more brief but hope you enjoy.

In case you aren’t familiar with what Magnus does, here is where I got my info on him from.

The Take: Overall, a pile of hit points and crowd control is gonna be good almost no matter what the damage values are. This guy is super powerful. The only possible saving graces are that he cannot dash without warning and he has relatively little self-defense. I think he will fit super well into support-heavy teams, however, and has a lot of synergy with, say, Aurora. Also Helio, Orion and Su-Ren.

Primary: Okay so this deals 26 damage up close, that’s pretty reasonable for a FL primary, okay it has lesser damage farther away, sure, seems pretty balanced. Oh it can charge up if you don’t use it? Seems unnecessarily powerful, but okay. The mods look really good. You can do consistent damage in a large area with Bonecrusher, do high burst damage with Kiss the Ring (I’m betting you can get at least 36 with a fully charged primary, which is firepower-level), and slow distant enemies with Shatter, which is, in my opinion, overpowered.

Horns Up: this is a cool ability. You telegraph your dash but can pull a fakie. Worst case scenario it’s a free action gain 30 shields over two turns, and you can mod it to reduce the cooldown on that. I think I’d either take Fake Out or Dynomite for more punching power. Oh by the way the dash totally has a root built in.

Dealbreaker: oh okay sure why not. We already have a dash that roots and a primary that has amazing slow potential, let’s just throw in a knockback. I think I like Haymaker as a mod on this one but I’ll be honest I don’t fully understand as of now what all the mods do.

Boss Around (ult): oh okay sure why not, let’s give him a freaking AoE walkies too. I have no idea what his energy gains are like at present, but this is still crazy good.

CC build: Shatter (3), Nothing (0), Fake Out (3) (or trample), Knockdown or Concussion (2), Lower Morale (2). You might try to find a way to get Big Boss in here too, depending on what the enemy team has for CC.

The bottom line: I expect Magnus to immediately dominate the soloQ meta, and to be played consistently in competitive as well. Do I think he’ll be nerfed? Yes. I think the Shatter mod will be nerfed (though not sure how you’d nerf it), and I think at least one of his other abilities will receive a small nerf, perhaps along the lines of a +1 cooldown or energy nerf. But let’s see! And lest I didn’t say it, I think he’s awesome. The abilities seem like a lot of fun, he looks great and should be a blast to play. Crowd control is always a dangerous thing and I do think he’ll be a little strong, but it’s fixable with numbers.